For the first time ever, young athletes gathered Jan. 13-22 in Austria for the Winter Youth Olympic Games. The event began with traditional opening ceremonies for more than 1,000 competitors from more than 70 nations. Ranging in age from 14 to 18, they competed in the 15 core events held at the Olympic Games. Keep an eye out for the names you see here, as they may appear again in Sochi, Russia, during the XXII Winter Olympics in February 2014. -- Lloyd Young (29 photos total)

The flag bearer from Austria, Tamara Grascher enters the stadium during the opening ceremony of the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck Jan. 13, 2012. (Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters)

Austrian downhill skiing Olympic champion of 1980 Leonhard Stock skies down with the Olympic flame during the Opening ceremony of the first Winter Youth Olympic Games on Jan. 13, 2012 in Innsbruck. In all, 70 national Olympic committees are taking part in these Youth Games, "which for winter sport is a very good figure", said IOC chief Jacques Rogge. (Samuel Kubani/AFP/Getty Images) #

Arkhip Nekolenko (not pictured) of Russia scores his team's opening goal over Finland goalie Kaapo Kahkonen during the mens final between Russia and Finland at the Tyrolean Ice Arena during the Winter Youth Olympic Game on Jan. 22, 2012. Finland won the gold 2-1. (Martin Rose/Getty Images) #

Patrick Caldwell from the United States competes in the men's classic 10km cross country skiing race during the Winter Youth Olympic Games at Seefeld Arena on Jan. 17 in Seefeld, Austria. (Martin Rose/Getty Images) #

Aydin Djemal of Great Britain, Xiucheng Lu of China, Yin-Cheng Chang of Taipei and Thomas Insuk Hong of the United States compete in the men's 500m short track speed skating at Olympiaworld on Jan. 19 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) #

Ondrej Kosztolanyi of Slovakia and fellow competitors collapse to the ground after the men's 10km pursuit during the Winter Youth Olympic Games on Jan. 16 in Seefeld, Austria. (Julian Finney/Getty Images) #

Norway's Martin Sesaker (left) and his teammate Stine Haalien work on the stone while playing against Estonia during a mixed team curling event at the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria on Jan. 17. (Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press) #

Finland's Joel Kiviranta, Kasperi Kapanan and Manu Honkanen (L-R) celebrate after winning the men's ice hockey final game at the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck on Jan. 22 (Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters) #